Kumar said there are 16-17 toilets in this area but half of them are non-functional as they do not have electricity or water. (Representation Image)

Councillors of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) Friday said the civic body’s claim of declaring itself open defecation-free, opening new parking lots in the city and declaring five markets plastic free have been punctured as none of these proposals are being implemented on the ground. AAP and Congress leaders also alleged that while the BJP-led corporation was getting its own projects cleared, proposal to open dispensaries in their wards were being blocked.

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During the SDMC house meeting Friday, Congress councillor from Badarpur Shravan Kumar said several people in Gautampuri area in his ward defecate along the tracks or in the open as the public toilet has sewer lines blocked. He said the toilet falls under DUSIB, but SDMC spent money on its upgradation through the Swachh Bharat Fund. Still, the sewage line remains choked and the toilet overflows. Kumar said there are 16-17 toilets in this area but half of them are non-functional as they do not have electricity or water. SDMC commissioner Puneet Goel said he will take up the matter with DUSIB.

The SDMC had on October 2, 2017, announced that all wards under its jurisdiction have become open defecation-free.

Leader of the Congress in South MCD Abhishek Dutt said there is no point getting such tags when in reality several toilet blocks are closed and open defecation is rampant in several areas. He said that while the South MCD has promised to open parking lots in several areas, the reality on the ground is different. The SDMC has set multiple deadlines to open multi-level parking lots in New Friends Colony, Jangpura, Kalkaji and Subhash Nagar, but not even one is completely operational.

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BJP councillor from Safdarjung Radhika Abrol said the plastic-free campaign has fizzled out in Green Park and Yusuf Sarai. Leader of Opposition Praveen Kumar said a proposal to make dispensaries in wards of Abhishek Dutt and AAP leader Ramesh Matiala has been rejected by the standing committee — the same body that cleared a similar proposal in Pul Prahladpur, a BJP leader’s ward.

Mayor Narender Chawla said: “We will try to resolve these issues at the earliest.”